“Unlike us, horses don’t take it in. Like other wild animals, they do not hold onto negative or excess energy. They discharge it. They shake it off - they just don’t take it into themselves.” - Strozzi Ill caveat that first with unless they are constantly subjected to that energy, and are unable to express their own release they will then form ways of disconnecting from their surroundings so as to protect themselves, so the fact they ‘don’t’ take it in doesn’t give us permission to not care But when we look at animals we see that they move and shake and release regularly, they don’t hold, if some sort of energy they dislike lands on them or near them they will get rid of it, choosing to not take it on Yoga teaches us that we hold trauma, stress and energy in our bodies, causing us stiffness, tightness and physical pain, even illness. Yoga teaches us to move into these places and through movement we release these holding patterns and allow our energy or life force to flow freely once more, it’s through daily practice of movement that we reduce the stuckness and allow ourselves to not hold on to things but to allow them to flow freely through us and out again Animals especially horses are the biggest teachers of this, that random shake or sudden gallop can be just that, a release of energy they don’t want in their body When we contain them, or subject them to the same negative energy over and over again, they find it hard to move it out, so this is when they can become inward, distant or feel disconnected As their human companions we have to be aware of the type of energy we are bringing into their space and if we are allowing them to shed it if they don’t like it, even better can we shed it before we enter their space, can we learn to shake it out It’s very easy when working with a partner to worry more about the other and forget ourselves, in doing so with horses we aren’t holding our part of the bargain up, if we worry about them and their energy but don’t recognise that our bodies are full of stress and tension we are just adding to their troubles, in order to truly help and connect with our animals we must connect to ourselves and check in that what we’re adding is not detrimental to the relationship This is where self awareness really starts to come in, do you know where you hold your stress, trauma or unwanted energy? And can you move it through you and release it or do you hold onto grudges, fears and past hurts? Watch any herd and they’ll have a moment of upset, but within seconds will shake it out and continue to graze, they will learn from it but not hold it, they will recognise what’s been said but not let it affect them unduly and this is one of the greatest lessons we can learn Holding on only causes us harm, it’s baggage we don’t have to carry, its baggage we’re not designed to carry, in order to stay healthy, free flowing and connected a learning to let go is key, that doesn’t mean we don’t learn from our past journeys but we just don’t have to hold onto the energy that they have, we can “shake it off” So whether sharing space with horses, babies, children, people, or ourselves, we ca learn to release rather than hold and physically, emotionally and mentally free ourselves up from our own stuckness